When dozens of armed militants stormed Narayan M. Ampang’s home city in the Philippines this year, she was as shocked as her government. It was May 23, and hundreds of ISIS-affiliated fighters,…
China is Making 2018 a Great Year for Southeast Asian Tech
It’s been a busy year for Southeast Asia’s dealmakers. The region has seen a vast uptick in big funding rounds, in companies such as Malaysian ride-hail app Grab and Indonesia’s e-commerce platform Tokopedia.…
China 2.0: “China and America Should Cooperate, not Compete, on Tech”
Mitch Presnick knows the Chinese economy more than most Americans. When he first flew east, in 1988, the country was a decade into seismic fiscal reforms that were, slowly, introducing market principles…
Taiwan’s Government Pours $527m into AI Capability
Taiwan’s government has announced plans to invest NT$16 billion ($527m) into the country’s artificial intelligence (AI) capability over the next four to five years. Its Ministry of Science and Technology has pledged…
Indonesia’s Tokopedia wins $1.1bn Alibaba-led Round
Tokopedia, one of southeast Asia’s leading e-commerce companies, has received a $1.1 billion funding round led by China’s Alibaba, which will see the latter become a minority stakeholder. The round, which follows…
DiDi Makes Next Move in Ride-Hail ‘Game of Risk’ with Careem Investment
China’s DiDi Chuxing has made another big move in the global ride-hailing market, by partnering with Middle Eastern brand Careem. The Dubai-based firm claims to be present in 80 Middle Eastern cities,…
Didi and SoftBank to Pour $2bn into Taxi Firm Grab
DiDi Chuxing and SoftBank are investing a combined $2 billion in Grab, formerly known as GrabTaxi, Southeast Asia’s premier ride-hailing app. The company, which operates in 65 cities across seven nations, is…
Payments, Bureaucracy and Brain Drains: Cairo Stands at a Startup Crossroads
When Willie Elamien first showed up in Cairo in 2014, the city’s startup scene was very different than it is now. There was hardly any government support. People rarely saw entrepreneurialism as…
Istanbul Continues to Grow as a Global Startup Hub – Despite its Sultan’s Power Grab
These are strange times in Turkey. In 2015 President Recep Tayyip Erdogan barely clung onto power in an unconvincing election victory, just two years after popular protesters swept through Turkey from Istanbul’s…
Report: Israeli High-Tech Exits Way Down in 2017
Israeli high-tech exits in the first half of 2017 have fallen far short of their total this time last year, according to a report. The IVC-Meitar Exits Report today discovered that the…